February is National Heart Month!

February is National Heart Month

We encourage you to get involved and take action to ensure that you remain "heart healthy" for yourself and your loved ones. Show how you are part of National Heart Month! Here are some suggestions on how to increase awareness, advocate, and show your support of the SADS Foundation this February:

Order a Red Kit: Our family Red Kit contains materials that can be delivered to all the places you live, work and play. Order your kit HERE

Download your Risk Assessment form here.

Tweet/Share/Like: Use #SADSheartmonthon your social media account and share photos of your Heart Month activities. Or download our logo to post on your page, or make it your profile picture, to help spread the word.

Post a Personal Message: Explain why you feel raising awareness of heart conditions is important. Tell your own story, or encourage your friends and family members to tell theirs. Ask people to "share" your status on their pages to increase awareness. Don’t forget to tag The SADS Foundation in your post and be sure to "Like" our Facebook page. Support SADS by making your personal message a fundrasier on Facebook.

4. Nominate a Heart Hero: Send us a high resolution photo and a story of 200 words (or less) telling us who your Heart Hero is and why. We will publish your Heart Hero nomination in our Spring newsletter and featured in our SADS blog. Be sure to send in your entries by Friday, February 22nd to sadsblog@sads.org.

Tell us here at the SADS Foundation about your activities during the month of February by emailing us at sads@sads.org. And have a safe and healthy National Heart Month!

Featured Heart Stories

First Her Sister Passed to Heart Disease, Then She Discovered She Had It Too.

Reported in the Spectrum Local News by Melissa Steininger

Melissa Russom and her sister Christi were inseparable.

"We were sisters [but] were also great friends," Melissa said.

Christi was known as the social butterfly, born two years prior to Melissa. The sister says she always looked up to Christi.

"She was the person who I loved the most, but also the person I fought with the most," Melissa said.

Melissa never expected the bond between them would be ripped away. In 2005, Christi collapsed and died at 24 years old.

"I was expecting to grow up having babies together and you know, doing family things together," Melissa said.

However, following Christi's passing, Melissa still could not figure out why.

"About a week after she died I was tested because they had to figure out what's going on here. Why did this happen? Could it be something in the rest of the family?" Melissa said.

Melissa learned she had Long Q-T syndrome, a rare heart disorder that impacts the heartbeat. Her mother, aunt, cousins would all be diagnosed in the coming months.

A decade later, the diagnoses resurfaced and struck the next generation.

"My daughters were actually diagnosed in utero," Melissa said.

Melissa says it's a manageable disease if it’s found early. A new study shows around 50 percent of Americans have some sort of heart problem, which often goes unnoticed until it's too late. Melissa says the disease does not discriminate.

"To me at 22, my face wasn't the face of heart disease. Certainly my two and four year olds wouldn't have been the faces of heart diseases if I could look into my future," Melissa said.

The girls will go on to live mostly normal and healthy lives.

"We tell them sometimes, 'hey you have a special heart.' Of course, Cora says 'oh like the grinch has a special heart.' You know, because his heart grows at the end. We try to put it into terms they understand," Melissa said.

The family now volunteers for the American Heart Association and organizes events in Christi's memory. Through Christi's death, Melissa says she gave the women she loved the most a chance at life.

"I love that Chris lived her life without fear. But at the same time, if we had that piece of awareness she'd still be living fearlessly," Melissa said.

Celebrating Heart Month!

American Heart Month

Elisabeth Gent is a Special Education Paraeducator with the Montgomery County Public School system in Maryland. She was diagnosed with Brugada in 2015 after several episodes of syncope and ended up in the ICU. With her ICD and medication she is now stable and able to spend her life helping others.

To celebrate Heart Month, Elisabeth requested a SADS Red Kits and set up a bulletin board in her school to help share her story and to educate those around her.

Have you done anything to celebrate American Heart Month? Share and tag #SADSHeartMonth.
It is not too late to order your Red Kit.